Banknote handling system for automated casino accounting

ABSTRACT

A banknote handling system includes an unlocking system. The unlocking system includes a camera, a first mechanical arm to which one or a plurality of keys are affixed, and a controller that determines a position of a keyhole based on an image from the camera, and controls the first arm to insert one of the one or the plurality of keys into the keyhole and turn the inserted key for unlocking. In many examples, the unlocking system is configured to unlock a banknote cashbox.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/216,839, filed Dec. 11, 2018, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C.119(b) to the following Japanese patent applications: JP 2018-097808filed May 22, 2018; JP 2018-097807 filed May 22, 2018; JP 2018-097806filed May 22, 2018; JP 2018-097805 filed May 22, 2018; JP 2018-097804filed May 22, 2018; JP 2018-097803 filed May 22, 2018; and JP2018-097802 filed May 22, 2018; the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate to a casino accounting system and,in particular, to an automated system to facilitate collection,accounting, sorting, and bundling of currency notes inserted by playersinto electronic gaming machines in a casino gaming environment.

BACKGROUND

A gaming industry entity, such as a casino, is typically required by aregulatory body to maintain accurate records of all transactions (e.g.,ticket in/ticket out transactions, player card transactions, cash orbanknote deposits, and so on) initiated by or through an electronicgaming machine, such as a slot machine, controlled by that entity.Conventionally, such transaction records are immediately communicatedfrom an electronic gaming machine to a local or remote server approvedof by the regulatory body.

At a later time, banknotes (and/or other financial documents, such ascash-equivalent vouchers) collected by each electronic gaming machine—ifany—are retrieved from locked “banknote cashboxes” within eachelectronic gaming machine and separately counted and sorted to verifythat all cash transactions reported by each electronic gaming machineexactly match the quantity and denominations of banknotes collected orotherwise received by that electronic gaming machine.

However, the process of regularly collecting banknote cashboxes,unlocking banknote cashboxes, retrieving banknote stacks from unlockedbanknote cashboxes, processing (e.g., sorting, counting, and/orbundling) the retrieved banknote stacks, relocking empty banknotecashboxes, and redistributing and reinserting locked banknote cashboxesinto electronic gaming machines is exceptionally time consuming andsubject to human error, especially due to the propensity of a loose,unjogged, stack of banknotes to droop, slip, or otherwise collapse orspread when removed from a banknote cashbox.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments described herein generally reference a system (referredto herein as a “banknote handling system”) including a mechanical armfitted with an object grasping mechanism configure to grasp a loose,unjogged, stack of banknotes from a banknote container (also referred toas a “banknote cashbox”). In one configuration, the object graspingmechanism includes a first gripper, a second gripper, a gripperactuator, and a biasing member. The second gripper is disposed so as toface—and in some embodiments, oriented parallel to—the first gripper.The gripper actuator moves at least one of the grippers toward or awayfrom of the opposite gripper along a linear or curved path. In addition,the object grasping mechanism includes a movable support that isdisposed adjacent to a side of one or both of the first or secondgripper.

The movable support extends or retracts along a direction parallel tothe adjacent gripper. A surface on an object receiving side of themovable support is typically defined on a surface including anobject-interfacing surface of the adjacent gripper, but in someembodiments, the object receiving side of the movable support may beoffset. The biasing member biases the movable support toward a tip ofthe gripper. As a result of this construction, the position and/or poseof the mechanical arm can be manipulated to cause the first and secondgripper of object grasping mechanism to insert into a banknotecontainer, grasp a stack of banknotes contained therein, and withdrawthe stack of banknotes. As the first and second gripper of objectgrasping mechanism withdraw from the banknote container, the movablesupport slides under a surface of the stack of banknotes (as a result ofthe biasing member) to support the stack of banknotes and prevent thestack from drooping or otherwise collapsing.

In another embodiment, an unlocking system of a banknote handling systemincludes a camera, a first mechanical arm to which one or a plurality ofkeys are attached, and a controller that determines a position of akeyhole based on an image from the camera, and controls the first arm toinsert one of the one or the plurality of keys into the keyhole and turnthe inserted key for unlocking.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to representative embodiments illustrated inthe accompanying figures. It should be understood that the followingdescriptions are not intended to limit this disclosure to one includedembodiment. To the contrary, the disclosure provided herein is intendedto cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be includedwithin the spirit and scope of the described embodiments, and as definedby the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an object grasping mechanism that can befitted to a mechanical arm of a banknote handling system, such asdescribed herein.

FIG. 2 is a right-side view of the object grasping mechanism, such asdescribed herein, in a pressing portion stand-by state.

FIG. 3 is a right-side view of the object grasping mechanism, such asdescribed herein, in a pressing portion projecting state.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a banknote container for accommodating abundle of banknotes to be taken out by the object grasping mechanism,such as described herein.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the objectgrasping mechanism, such as described herein, places a bundle ofbanknotes in a placing tray of a banknote sorting device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state of a movable support when agripper of the object grasping mechanism, such as described herein, isinserted into the banknote container.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state of the movable support whenthe gripper of the object grasping mechanism, such as described herein,is pulled out from the banknote container.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an object grasping mechanism, such asdescribed herein.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the object grasping mechanism of FIG. 8, such as described herein.

FIG. 10 shows a state in which the object grasping mechanism of FIG. 8grasps a bundle of banknotes when the protrusion of the object graspingmechanism is in use, such as described herein.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a gripper of an object graspingmechanism, such as described herein.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a gripper of an object graspingmechanism, such as described herein.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a banknote handling system, such as describedherein.

FIG. 14 is a front view of the banknote handling system, such asdescribed herein.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram of the banknote handling system,such as described herein.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a procedure performed by the banknotehandling system 1, such as described herein.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a banknote storage container, such asdescribed herein with a lid 11 being open.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a transporter, such as describedherein.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a reverser, such as described herein.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the transporter, such as describedherein with the banknote storage container mounted on the transporter.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the transporter, such as describedherein having the banknote storage container transported to an RFIDantenna.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the reverser, such as described hereinhaving the banknote storage container 10 mounted on the reverser.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the reverser, such as described hereinwith the turntable lifted.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the reverser, such as described hereinwith the turntable turned.

FIG. 25 is a front view of a first mechanical arm, such as describedherein.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the first mechanical arm, such asdescribed herein.

FIG. 27 is a front view of the second mechanical arm, such as describedherein.

FIG. 28 is a plan view of the second mechanical arm, such as describedherein.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of the second mechanical arm, such asdescribed herein.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing an unlocking process for a banknotestorage container, such as described herein.

FIG. 31 is a perspective view of the second mechanical arm and thebanknote storage container, such as described herein when the secondmechanical arm captures an image of a keyhole.

FIG. 32 is a perspective view of the first mechanical arm and thebanknote storage container, such as described herein when the firstmechanical arm has moved to face the keyhole.

FIG. 33 is a perspective view of the first mechanical arm and thebanknote storage container, such as described herein when the firstmechanical arm is unlocking the container.

FIG. 34 is a perspective view of the second mechanical arm and thebanknote storage container, such as described herein when banknotes areremoved from the banknote storage container.

FIG. 35 is a left side view of a banknote aligner.

FIG. 36 is a right front perspective view of the banknote aligner.

FIG. 37 is a plan view of the banknote aligner.

FIG. 38 is a right front perspective view of the banknote alignerwithout a cover.

FIG. 39 is a right rear perspective view of the banknote aligner withoutthe cover.

FIG. 40 is a left rear perspective view of the banknote aligner withoutthe cover.

FIG. 41 is a left perspective view of a vibration unit, such asdescribed herein.

FIG. 42 is a right rear perspective view of the vibration unit, such asdescribed herein.

FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing a method for controlling the banknotealigner.

FIG. 44 is a front cross-sectional view of the banknote aligner showingits structure for driving a slide plate.

FIG. 45 is a left cross-sectional view of the banknote aligner showingits banknote vibration structure.

FIG. 46 is a right front perspective view of the banknote aligner withthe vibration unit covered with the cover.

FIG. 47 is a right side view of the banknote aligner with the vibrationunit covered with the cover.

FIG. 48 is a right side view of the banknote aligner with the banknotesbeing pushed from above and from front.

FIG. 49 is a functional block diagram of the banknote handling systemaccording to an embodiment.

The use of the same or similar reference numerals in different figuresindicates similar, related, or identical items.

Additionally, it should be understood that the proportions anddimensions (either relative or absolute) of the various features andelements (and collections and groupings thereof) and the boundaries,separations, and positional relationships presented therebetween, areprovided in the accompanying figures merely to facilitate anunderstanding of the various embodiments described herein and,accordingly, may not necessarily be presented or illustrated to scale,and are not intended to indicate any preference or requirement for anillustrated embodiment to the exclusion of embodiments described withreference thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein reference a banknote handling system, andcomponents thereof, for emptying banknote cashboxes collected in acasino gaming environment. In particular, a banknote handling systemsuch as described herein is configured to substantially automate theoperations of processing banknote cashboxes collected from one or moreelectronic gaming machines or gaming services (e.g., slot machines,table games, and so on) associated with a casino gaming environment.

More specifically, a banknote handling system can be configured to,without substantial intervention by a human operator, receive lockedbanknote cashboxes, unlock the locked banknote cashboxes, retrievebanknote stacks from the unlocked banknote cashboxes, process theretrieved banknote stacks (e.g., sorting, counting, reconciling, and/orbundling), and relock the emptied banknote cashboxes which, thereafter,can be re-inserted into an electronic gaming machine. In someembodiments, the banknote handling system can be configured to organizethe retrieved and/or bundled banknote stacks by denomination or in anyother suitable manner, for example in preparation for collection anddeposit at a bank.

For simplicity of description, many embodiments herein reference a“casino” as an example gaming industry entity in control of a casinogaming environment, although it is appreciated that this is merely oneexample. Similarly, for simplicity of description, the phrase“electronic gaming machine” as used herein is generally understood torefer to a stationary slot machine within a casino, however, it may beunderstood that this is merely one example of an electronic gamingmachine or gaming service. In other words, in some embodiments, othergaming industry entities and/or other stationary, portable, and/ordigital (e.g., software-based) electronic gaming machines and/orservices may be suitable for use with the various embodiments describedherein and equivalents thereof.

A banknote handling system, such as described herein, typically includesone or more mechanical arms communicably coupled to a controller thatcan adjust the position or pose of the mechanical arms across numerousdegrees of freedom in free space. In many embodiments, one or morecomponents of the controller can include or can be communicably coupledto circuitry and/or logic components, such as a processor and a memory.The processor of the controller can be implemented as any device capableof processing, receiving, or transmitting data or instructions. Forexample, the processor can be a microprocessor, a central processingunit, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmablegate array, a digital signal processor, an analog circuit, a digitalcircuit, or combination of such devices. The processor may be asingle-thread or multi-thread processor. The processor may be asingle-core or multi-core processor.

Accordingly, as described herein, the term “processing unit” or, moregenerally, “processor” or “controller” refers to a hardware-implementeddata processing device or circuit physically structured to executespecific transformations of data including data operations representedas code and/or instructions included in a program that can be storedwithin and accessed from a memory. The term is meant to encompass asingle processor or processing unit, multiple processors, multipleprocessing units, analog or digital circuits, or other suitablyconfigured computing element or combination of elements.

In one embodiment, a banknote handling system includes a firstmechanical arm fitted with an object grasping mechanism configured toselect a locked banknote cashbox from a set of locked banknotecashboxes, each awaiting processing and/or handling by the banknotehandling system. In one example, the set of locked banknote cashboxescan be contained, enclosed, or otherwise disposed relative to a cart,trolley, or other similar apparatus suitable to securely convey banknotecashboxes retrieved from slot machines and/or other electronic gamingmachines on a casino floor to the banknote handling system. In somecases, a cart, trolley, or other similar apparatus can be mechanicallyanchored or otherwise secured to prevent movement of the apparatus whilethe first mechanical arm operates, but this may not be required.

Continuing the example introduced above, the first mechanical arm—and inparticular the object grasping mechanism fitted to the first mechanicalarm—can be positioned or posed by the controller to grasp a lockedbanknote cashbox. Once grasped, the first mechanical arm can move and/orreorient the locked banknote cashbox in a manner such that a secondmechanical arm fitted with a key attachment can manipulate the positionor pose of the key attachment to unlock the locked banknote cashbox heldin place by, in one example, the first mechanical arm. In otherembodiments, the first mechanical arm can be configured to obtain dataor information from the locked banknote cashbox prior to positioning thelocked banknote cashbox relative to the second mechanical arm. Forexample, the locked banknote cashbox may include one or morecommunication modules (e.g., near-field communications, Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, infrared, and so on) that are configured to communicateinformation about the content of the locked banknote cashbox. Suchinformation can include, but may not be limited to: total banknotes;total value of all banknotes; serial numbers of all banknotes; images ofall banknotes; denomination counts of banknotes; and so on. In othercases, obtaining information from the locked banknote cashbox may not berequired.

Thereafter, in some embodiments, one of the first or second mechanicalarms can be positioned and/or otherwise operated by the controller toopen a lid or other closure of the locked banknote cashbox. Once opened,a third mechanical arm fitted with a gripper attachment can grip andwithdraw a banknote stack disposed within the unlocked banknote cashbox.In many examples, the gripper can include one or more features tosupport stack of banknotes, preventing the stack from drooping orotherwise collapsing when removed from the unlocked banknote cashbox bythe third mechanical arm.

Thereafter, the third mechanical arm can place the withdrawn stack ofbanknotes into a banknote sorting mechanism, a jogging mechanism, abanknote counting mechanism, a banknote binding or bundling mechanism,or any other suitable mechanism or container. In some cases, the thirdmechanical arm can be configured to convey the stack of banknotes fromone mechanism to another. For example, the third mechanical arm can beconfigure to withdraw the stack of banknotes from the unlocked banknotecashbox, position the stack of banknotes in a hopper of a banknotecounting mechanism, grasp the stack of banknotes once counted by thebanknote counting mechanism, position the counted stack of banknotes ina hopper of a banknote sorting mechanism, grasp at least one sortedstack of counted banknotes, position the at least one sorted stack ofcounted banknotes into a hopper of a banknote binding mechanism, and soon.

Thereafter, once the unlocked banknote cashbox is emptied of banknotesby the third mechanical arm, the first and second mechanical arms can bemanipulated by the controller to relock the banknote cashbox andposition the empty and locked banknote cashbox onto a cart or trolley.

These and other embodiments are discussed below with reference to FIGS.1-35 . However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate thatthe detailed description given herein with respect to these figures isfor explanatory purposes only and should not be construed as limiting.

Generally and broadly, FIG. 1-7 depict a portion of a banknote handlingsystem configured to grasp and withdraw stacks of banknotes from abanknote cashbox, such as described herein. It may be appreciated thatthe specific examples described below are not limited to the preciseforms described below. In other words, for simplicity of description andillustration, the following specific examples are provided however, aperson of skill in the art may appreciate that modifications,substitutions, and adjustments may be suitable.

For example, as depicted in FIG. 1 , an object grasping mechanism 100,such as described herein, and is fitted to a mechanical arm RA. Asdepicted in FIG. 1 , the object grasping mechanism 100 includes amovable gripper 110, a fixed gripper 120, a reciprocating mechanism 130,a pressing portion 140, a reciprocating mechanism 150, a movable support160, a movable support biasing member 170, a connector 180, and animaging unit 190.

The movable gripper 110 includes a base portion 111 and a protrusion112. The base portion 111 in many embodiments is a rigid plate having,in one example, a substantially trapezoidal shape. The protrusion 112,in many embodiments, can be implemented as a rigid plate having anelongated rectangular shape and extends forward from the side surface onthe short side of the base portion 111. The movable gripper 110 is fixedto a movable plate 132 at the long side of the base portion 111 of thereciprocating mechanism 130.

The fixed gripper 120 includes a base portion 121 and a protrusion 122.The base portion 121 can be implemented as a rigid plate having arectangular shape. The protrusion 122 can be implemented as rigid platehaving an elongated rectangular shape. In the illustrated embodiment,the protrusion 122 extends forward from a central side of a front of thebase 121.

As depicted in FIGS. 1-3 , the reciprocating mechanism 130 includes asupport plate 131, a movable plate 132, a hydraulic or pneumaticmechanism, identified as the actuator mechanism 133, and a movable table134.

In the illustrated embodiment, the support plate 131 supports theactuator mechanism 133. The actuator mechanism 133 imparts a drivingforce for elevating or lowering the movable table 134. The actuatormechanism 133 is attached to the support plate 131, as noted above.

The movable plate 132 is attached to the movable table 134. In otherwords, the actuator mechanism 133 elevates or lowers the movable plate132 by elevating or lowering the movable table 134. As depicted in FIGS.2 and 3 , the actuator mechanism 133 has an air supply (or other gas orliquid source) and exhaust openings 135 and 136.

As depicted in FIGS. 1-3 , the pressing portion 140, which can be asubstantially concave plate member, is attached to a connection piece152 b of a piston 152 of the reciprocating mechanism 150 such thatupright portions RU on both sides extend toward the movable gripper. Inthis manner, the pressing portion 140 reciprocates by action of thereciprocating mechanism 150.

The reciprocating mechanism 150 includes a cylinder block 151, a piston152, an air supply and exhaust opening 153 and a knob 154, as depictedin FIG. 1 . The cylinder block 151, which in the illustrated embodimenthas a substantially rectangular shape, is coupled to the side oppositeto the side of the fixed gripper 120 facing the movable gripper 110.

In some embodiments, one or more rows of cylindrical holes or apertures(not depicted) can be formed along the longitudinal direction inside thecylinder block 151. The piston 152 includes a pair of pistons 152 a anda connecting piece 152 b. The pair of pistons 152 a extends in parallelin the same direction from a surface of the connecting piece 152 b. Inthese examples, each of the pair of pistons 152 a is inserted into thetwo rows of cylinder holes.

In some embodiments, the pressing portion 140 is joined to a side of theconnecting piece 152 b, which can be a side opposite to the pistonextension side of the connecting piece 152 b. The air supply and exhaustopenings 153 are each provided on opposite sides. Air supply and exhausttubes (not depicted) can be each connected to those air supply andexhaust openings 153.

The knob 154 is attached to each of the air supply and exhaust openings153. The knob 154, which can be used for adjusting air supply volume orair exhaust volume, can be configured to adjust an elevating or loweringspeed of the movable table 134, which—in some embodiments—can beidentical to an elevating or lowering speed of the movable plate 132.

The reciprocating mechanism 150, which can be implemented as describedabove, allows the pressing portion 140 to be reciprocated (along thefront-back direction) by introducing and/or exhausting air or anotherliquid or gas.

As depicted in FIG. 1 , the movable support 160 is biased forward by themovable support biasing member 170. Also, in this embodiment, an uppersurface of the tip of the movable support 160 can be defined withrespect to a surface including an upper surface of the tip of theprotrusion 122 of the fixed gripper 120 (a surface facing the movablegripper 110). In other embodiments, the upper surface of the tip of themovable support 160 may be disposed slightly lower than the uppersurface of the tip of the protrusion 122 of the fixed gripper 120.

As depicted in FIG. 1 , the movable support biasing members 170, each ofwhich can be a coil spring or other suitable biasing member, aredisposed on both sides of the protrusion 122 of the fixed gripper 120and on the rear side of the movable support 160. In this manner, themovable support biasing members 170 bias the movable support 160 towardthe front of the object grasping mechanism 100. In other words, when themovable support 160 is released after the movable support 160 is pushedrearward, the movable support 160 is pushed back to the initial positionby the movable support biasing member 170.

The connector 180, which can be a portion for connecting the objectgrasping mechanism 100 to the mechanical arm RA, is a flange or thelike, for example.

As depicted in FIGS. 1 to 3 , the imaging unit 190, which can be, forexample, a compact camera such as a charge-coupled device orcomplementary metal oxide semiconductor camera, can be fixed to theright side of the reciprocating mechanism 130 by a support arm SAextending from the support plate 131 of the reciprocating mechanism 130.As a result of this construction, the imaging unit 190 can be configuredto intermittently capture images to transmit electronic datacorresponding to one or more captured images to a controller (notdepicted).

In an example, a case in which the mechanical arm RA having the objectgrasping mechanism 100, such as described herein, takes a bundle ofbanknotes out of a banknote container (also referred to as a banknotecashbox, as noted above), and conveys the bundle of banknotes to aplacing tray or hopper of a banknote sorting device.

The banknote container 200 depicted in FIG. 4 is employed as an exampleof the banknote container, and a placing tray 320 of a banknote sortingdevice 300 depicted in FIG. 5 is employed as an example of the placingtray of the banknote sorting device.

Before describing the mechanical arm RA having the object graspingmechanism 100, the banknote container 200 and the banknote sortingdevice 300 will be described. In many embodiments, the mechanical arm RAis, for example, a multi-axis robot arm.

As depicted in FIG. 4 , the banknote container 200 includes a case 210,a front lid 220, an upper support plate 230 and a lower support plate240. As depicted in FIG. 1 , the case 210 is a rectangular box thatopens toward a front side. In these embodiments, the front lid 220 is asubstantially rectangular plate member and is axially supported on theupper side of the opening edge of the case 210 so as to be opened andclosed by an opening and closing mechanism such as a hinge.

The upper support plate 230 is a member for sandwiching a bundle ofbanknotes MT in cooperation with the lower support plate 240, and isdisposed so as to be vertically movable slightly above the center in theheight direction of the case 210, as depicted in FIG. 1 .

A semicircular notch Rs is formed at the front center of the uppersupport plate 230. The lower support plate 240 is a member thatcooperates with the upper support plate 230 to grasp the bundle ofbanknotes MT, and is fixed to the lower side of the case 210 as depictedin FIG. 1 .

A slit Rt is formed at the center in the width direction of the lowersupport plate 240. In the banknote container 200, such as describedherein, the upper support plate 230 is biased downward by a biasingmember (e.g., coil spring or the like) disposed on the upper side of thesupport plate 230; that is, the bundle of banknotes MT to beaccommodated in the banknote container 200 are pressed against the lowersupport plate 240 by the upper support plate 230.

The banknote sorting device 300 is a device for counting various kindsof denominations while sorting, by denomination, the bundle of banknotesMT accommodated in the banknote container 200. As depicted in FIG. 5 ,the banknote sorting device 300 includes a body 310 and a placing tray320. A banknote sorting mechanism that counts various kinds ofdenominations while sorting, by denomination, the bundle of banknotes MTsupplied from the placing tray 320 is disposed in the body 310.

The placing tray 320 is for placing the bundle of banknotes MT and canbe disposed beside a banknote suction mechanism of the banknote sortingmechanism. In other words, when a banknote detection sensor of thebanknote suction mechanism of the banknote sorting mechanism detects thebundle of banknotes MT placed on the placing tray 320, the bundle ofbanknotes MT are automatically sucked into the banknote sortingmechanism by a banknote suction device.

When the mechanical arm RA having the object grasping mechanism 100takes the bundle of banknotes MT out of the banknote container 200 andmoves the bundle of banknotes MT to the placing tray 320 of the banknotesorting device 300, the mechanical arm RA having the object graspingmechanism 100 operates, in one example, as follows.

First, the controller controls the operation of the mechanical arm RA tomove the object grasping mechanism 100 to a prescribed position and todirect it toward a prescribed direction. Note that the prescribedposition is a position on the front side of the container 200, and theprescribed direction is a direction in which the imaging unit 190 isable to capture the front of the banknote container 200.

Next, the controller controls the mechanical arm RA and the objectgrasping mechanism 100 to elevate the movable gripper 110 to the highestposition, and then inserts the tip of the fixed gripper 120 into theslit Rt of the lower support plate 240. At that time, the movablegripper 110 is positioned above the notch Rs of the upper support plate230. Also, at that time, the movable support 160 contacts the wallportions on both sides of the slit Rt of the lower support plate 240 andmoves backward, as depicted in FIG. 6 .

Next, the controller moves the movable gripper 110 downward to grasp thebundle of banknotes MT together with the fixed gripper 120. Thecontroller controls the operation of the mechanical arm RA to move theobject grasping mechanism 100 backward and take the bundle of banknotesMT out of the banknote container 200. Note that as depicted in FIG. 7 ,as the object grasping mechanism 100 moves backward, the movable support160 is moved forward.

Subsequently, as depicted in FIG. 5 , the controller controls themechanical arm RA to insert the object grasping mechanism 100 from thefront end side to the back side of the placing tray 320 of the banknotesorting device 300, and then activates the reciprocating mechanism 150to move the pressing portion 140 forward; in addition to that, thecontroller controls the reciprocating mechanism 130 to elevate themovable gripper 110 upward and release the bundle of banknotes MT.

While the pressing portion 140 is moving forward, the controllercontrols the mechanical arm RA to elevate the object grasping mechanism100 obliquely backward while maintaining the inclination angle of theobject grasping mechanism 100. This operation completes conveyance ofthe bundle of banknotes MT to the placing plate 320 of the banknotesorting device 300. After completing conveyance of the bundle ofbanknotes MT, the controller activates the reciprocating mechanism 150to push back the pressing portion 140 backward; during such operation,the controller controls the operation of the mechanical arm RA to movethe object grasping mechanism 100 to the prescribed position and directit to the prescribed direction. Subsequently, as described above, abundle of banknotes MT is taken out of the next banknote container 200conveyed to the same position, and then the bundle of banknotes MT areconveyed to the placing tray 320 of the banknote sorting device 300.

The pressing portion 140 and the reciprocating mechanism 150 areprovided with the object grasping mechanism 100, such as describedherein. The object grasping mechanism 100, such as described herein, isattached to the mechanical arm RA and the controller. The controllercontrols the mechanical arm RA to insert the object grasping mechanism100 from the front end side to the back side of the placing tray 320 ofthe banknote sorting device 300 (refer to FIG. 5 ), and then introducingair into the cylinder holes of the reciprocating mechanism 150 causesthe pressing portion 140 to move forward; in addition, the controllercontrols the reciprocating mechanism 130 to elevate the movable gripper110 upward and release the bundle of banknotes MT. This allows theobject grasping mechanism 100 to place all the bundles of banknotes MTto the placing tray 320 of the banknote sorting device 300.

The object grasping mechanism 100, such as described herein, can beprovided with the movable support 160 and the movable support biasingmember 170. Thus, when a bundle of banknotes MT are sandwiched betweenthe support plates 230 and 240 with a slim slit Rt only, the objectgrasping mechanism 100 can pick out the bundle of banknotes MT, andsubsequently can stabilize the attitude of the bundle of banknotes MT.

The mechanical arm RA having the object grasping mechanism 100 of theabove embodiment is controlled by the controller such that afterinserting the object grasping mechanism 100 from the front end side tothe back side of the placing tray 320 of the banknote sorting device300, the pressing portion 140 is moved forward and the movable gripper110 is elevated upward to release the bundle of banknotes MT; however,it may be controlled such that after moving the object graspingmechanism 100 to the front side portion of the tray 320 of the banknotesorting device 300, the movable gripper 110 is elevated upward torelease the bundle of banknotes MT, and then after pushing the pressingportion 140 forward, the object grasping mechanism 100 is movedbackward.

The mechanical arm RA having the object grasping mechanism 100 of theabove embodiment can be controlled by the controller such that aftermoving the movable gripper 110 downward and grasping the bundle ofbanknotes MT together with the fixed gripper 120, the object graspingmechanism 100 is moved backward and the bundle of banknotes MT are takenout of the banknote container 200; however it may be controlled suchthat after the object grasping mechanism 100 grasps the bundle ofbanknotes MT with the movable gripper 110 and the fixed gripper 120, theobject grasping mechanism 100 moves backward by a certain distance topull out the bundle of banknotes MT to the front by a certain length andthen release the bundle of banknotes MT, and the object graspingmechanism 100 grasps again the portion of the bundle of banknotes MTthat has been pulled out. This allows the length of the bundle ofbanknotes MT that is held by the object grasping mechanism 100 to belonger, thereby making the grasping state by the object graspingmechanism 100 more stable.

In the object grasping mechanism 100 of the above embodiment, thepressing portion 140 and the reciprocating mechanism 150 are disposed onthe side opposite to the movable gripper facing side of the fixedgripper 120; however, the pressing portion 140 and the reciprocatingmechanism 150 may be disposed on the side opposite to the fixed gripperfacing side of the movable gripper 110, or they may be disposed betweenthe movable gripper 110 and the fixed gripper 120. Note that when thepressing portion 140 and the reciprocating mechanism 150 are disposedbetween the movable gripper 110 and the fixed gripper 120, it ispreferable that an accommodating space for the pressing portion 140 andthe reciprocating mechanism 150 is formed at the rear of the movablegripper 110 and the fixed gripper 120 so as not to obstruct the graspingoperation by the movable gripper 110 and the fixed gripper 120.

In the object grasping mechanism 100 of the above embodiment, thetension coil spring is employed as the movable support biasing members170; alternatively, other biasing parts such as an air spring or biasingmechanism may be employed.

In the object grasping mechanism 100 of the above embodiment, themovable supports 160 are disposed on both sides of the fixed gripper120; however, the movable support 160 may be disposed only on one sideof the fixed gripper 120.

In the object grasping mechanism 100 of the above embodiment, themovable supports 160 and the movable support biasing members 170 aredisposed adjacent to the fixed gripper 120; however, the movablesupports 160 and the movable support biasing members 170 may be disposedadjacent to the movable gripper 110, or may be disposed adjacent to bothof the fixed gripper 120 and the movable gripper 110. In the lattercase, sets of the movable supports 160 and the movable support biasingmembers 170 may be each provided so as to be adjacent to the fixedgripper 120 and the movable gripper 110.

In the object grasping mechanism 100 of the above embodiment, the fixedgripper 120 is fixed and only the movable gripper 110 is movable;however, the fixed grippers 120 may also be movable like the movablegrippers 110.

In the object grasping mechanism 100 of the illustrated embodiment, theactuator mechanism is employed as the reciprocating mechanism 130;however, mechanisms like a known reciprocating mechanism such as a rackand pinion mechanism, a ball screw mechanism, an actuator mechanism, amotor cylinder mechanism, an electric slider mechanism, a belt slidermechanism and a linear slider mechanism may be employed as thereciprocating mechanism 130. In such a case, an electric motor may beemployed as a drive source.

In the object grasping mechanism 100 of the first embodiment, theactuator mechanism is employed as the reciprocating mechanism 150;however, mechanisms like a known reciprocating mechanism such as a rackand pinion mechanism, a ball screw mechanism, an actuator mechanism, amotor cylinder mechanism, an electric slider mechanism, a belt slidermechanism and a linear slider mechanism may be employed as thereciprocating mechanism 150. In such a case, an electric motor may beemployed as a drive source.

Although not particularly mentioned in the first embodiment, thecontroller may analyze the front image of the banknote container 200captured by the imaging unit 190 to determine the position of the notchRs of the upper support plate 230 and the slit Rt of the lower supportplate 240, then may control the mechanical arm RA and the objectgrasping mechanism 100 to adjust the position of the movable gripper110, may insert the tip of the movable gripper 110 into the notch Rs ofthe upper support plate 230, and may insert the tip of the fixed gripper120 into the slit Rt of the lower support plate 240.

The foregoing embodiments depicted in FIGS. 1-7 and the variousalternatives thereof and variations thereto are presented, generally,for purposes of explanation, and to facilitate an understanding ofvarious configurations and constructions of a banknote handling system,such as described herein. However, it will be apparent to one skilled inthe art that some of the specific details presented herein may not berequired in order to practice a particular described embodiment, or anequivalent thereof.

Thus, it is understood that the foregoing and following descriptions ofspecific embodiments are presented for the limited purposes ofillustration and description. These descriptions are not targeted to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms recitedherein. To the contrary, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art that many modifications and variations are possible in view ofthe above teachings.

Generally and broadly, FIG. 8-12 depict another example portion of abanknote handling system configured to grasp and withdraw stacks ofbanknotes from a banknote cashbox, such as described herein. It may beappreciated that the specific examples described below are not limitedto the precise forms described below. In other words, for simplicity ofdescription and illustration, the following specific examples areprovided however, a person of skill in the art may appreciate thatmodifications, substitutions, and adjustments may be suitable.

As shown in FIG. 8 , an object grasping mechanism 800 can be implementedas two gripper object grasping mechanism, and is disposed at the tip ofa mechanical arm RA. The object grasping mechanism 800 includes amovable gripper 810, a fixed gripper 820, a reciprocating mechanism 830,a protrusion 840, a protrusion reciprocating mechanism 850, and aconnector 860.

The movable gripper 810, which can be implemented as a rigid plate witha substantially rectangular shape, is fixed to an elevating-loweringplate 832 of the reciprocating mechanism 830. In the movable gripper810, screw holes (not shown) can be formed near the approximate centerin the longitudinal direction and the width direction.

The fixed gripper 820, which can be implemented as a rigid plate with asubstantially rectangular shape, is fixed to a support plate 831 of thereciprocating mechanism 830. As shown in FIG. 8 , the fixed gripper 820faces the movable gripper 810 in the reciprocating direction of themovable gripper 810.

The first recess 821 has a substantially T-shape and is formed by adistal end side portion 821A and a proximal end side portion 821B. Asshown in FIG. 8 , the distal end side portion 821A is formed in aposition closer to the tip of the fixed gripper 820 on the side facingthe movable gripper of the fixed gripper 820.

The distal end side portion 821A is formed over the entire width of thefixed gripper 820. Conversely, as shown in FIG. 8 , the proximal endside portion 821B is formed in a position closer to the proximal end ofthe fixed gripper 820 on the side facing the movable gripper of thefixed gripper 820. The proximal end side portion 821B is formed at thewidthwise central portion of the fixed gripper 820. The proximal endside portion 821B extends in the longitudinal direction from thewidthwise central portion on the proximal end side of the distal endside portion 821A toward the proximal end side. For convenience ofexplanation, the function of this first recess will be described later.

The second recess 822 (with a substantially rectangular shape) is formedinside the distal end side portion 821A of the first recess 821. Thesecond recess 822 plays a role of accommodating a part or the whole ofthe protrusion 840 in an accommodated state of the protrusion 840. Inone embodiment, accommodating a part or the whole of the protrusion 840in the second recess 822 achieves a state in which the tip side portion811 of the movable gripper 810 can contact with the tip side portion 823of the fixed gripper 820.

The tip side portion 823 has a shape in which portions on both sidesalong a width of the tip side portion 823 are raised more than thecentral portion; that is, it has a shape in which the central portion inthe width direction is recessed. In other words, a recess CV is formedin the tip side portion 823.

The reciprocating mechanism 830 includes the support plate 831, theelevating-lowering plate 832, and an air cylinder mechanism (not shown).The support plate 831 supports the elevating-lowering plate 832 to beable to move up and down. The air cylinder mechanism serves as a drivesource for elevating and/or lowering the elevating-lowering plate 832.Note that the reciprocating mechanism 830 can bring the movable gripper810 close to the fixed gripper 820 until the protrusion 840 of themovable gripper 810 enters the recess CV of the tip side portion 823 ofthe fixed gripper 820 in a state of using the protrusion, which isdescribed later.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the protrusion 840, which can be implemented in asubstantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, is formed at the tip ofa front-back slide bar 853 of the protrusion reciprocating mechanism850.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the protrusion reciprocating mechanism 850, whichcan be implemented as a mechanism for reciprocating the protrusion 840along a front-back direction, includes a rotary air cylinder 851, apivot bar 852 and a front-back slide bar 853. As shown in FIG. 8 , therotary air cylinder 851 is disposed beside the reciprocating mechanism830 such that a rotary shaft (not shown) extends downward along adirection parallel to an elevation direction of the movable gripper 810.The pivot bar 852 is attached to the rotary shaft of the rotary aircylinder 851. As shown in FIG. 8 , the pivot bar 852 can be implementedas long rigid plate housed in a substantially fan-shaped recess VSformed on the back side of the movable gripper 810; one end thereof isattached to the rotary shaft of the rotary air cylinder 851, asdescribed above.

As a result of this configuration, the pivot bar 852 can be pivotedaround the rotary shaft of the rotary air cylinder 851 by the rotary aircylinder 851. A long hole OS extending along the longitudinal directionat the center in the width direction is formed at the other end portionof the pivot bar 852.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the front-back slide bar 853 is an elongated rigidplate, and the protrusion 840 is formed at the tip of the front-backslide bar 853 as described above. In the front-back slide bar 853, a pinPN extending in the thickness direction at the proximal end portion isformed. As shown in FIG. 8 , the pin PN is inserted into the linearguide groove GL formed on the back side of the movable gripper 810through the long hole OL of the pivot bar 852. The linear guide grooveGL is formed along a direction parallel to the extending direction ofthe front-back slide bar 853.

In the front-back slide bar 853, a long hole OL extending in thelongitudinal direction at the center in the width direction of the tipend side is formed. As shown in FIG. 8 , a screw BS is passed throughthe long hole OL from the lower side, and the screw BS is screwed into ascrew hole of the movable gripper 810. The screw BS is fixed so as toform a gap to such an extent that the front-back slide bar 853 can bereciprocated.

Similar to other embodiments described herein, configuring theprotrusion reciprocating mechanism 850 as described above allows theprotrusion 840 to be reciprocated along the front-back direction by thenormal rotation and/or reverse rotation drive of the rotary air cylinder851. As a result, it is possible to switch states for the objectgrasping mechanism 800 between a state in which the protrusion isaccommodated shown in FIG. 8 and a state in which the protrusion is inuse shown in FIG. 9 .

The connector 860 can be implemented as part for connecting the objectgrasping mechanism 800 with the mechanical arm RA; for example, it canbe implemented as flange or the like.

In this manner, when the rotary air cylinder 851 is normally rotated inthe state shown in FIG. 8 , that is, in the state in which theprotrusion is accommodated, the protrusion 840 moves forward to the tipside portion 811 of the movable gripper 810, thereby switching the stateof the object grasping mechanism 800, such as described herein, to thestate shown in FIG. 9 , that is, the state in which the protrusion is inuse.

As shown in FIG. 10 , the object grasping mechanism 800 grasps anobject, which may be prone to droop, such as a bundle of banknotes orthe like in this state, thereby allowing for making the object upwardlywarped and preventing the object from drooping. Note that this isachieved by cooperation of the protrusion 840 and the tip side portion823 of the fixed gripper 820.

In contrast, the rotary air cylinder 851 is reversely rotated in thestate shown in FIG. 9 , that is, in the state in which the protrusion isin use, the protrusion 840 retracts toward the proximal side of themovable gripper 810, thereby switching the state of the object graspingmechanism 800 to the state shown in FIG. 8 , that is, the state in whichthe protrusion is accommodated. In this state, the object graspingmechanism 800 can grasp an object with the tip side portion 811 of themovable gripper 810 and the tip side portion 823 of the fixed gripper820. Note that the object grasping mechanism 800 can contact the tipside portion 811 of the movable gripper 810 with the tip side portion823 of the fixed gripper 820 even when the object grasping mechanism 800is in the state in which the protrusion is accommodated.

In view of the foregoing examples, it may be appreciated that, generallyand broadly, the object grasping mechanism 800 is designed to operate asfollows: in this state, when the movable gripper 810 is moved toward thefixed gripper 820, the protrusion 840 is accommodated in the secondrecess 822 of the fixed gripper 820 and the front-back slide bar 853 ofthe protrusion reciprocating mechanism 850 is accommodated in the firstrecess 821 of the fixed gripper 820.

As described above, in the object grasping mechanism, such as describedherein, when the rotary air cylinder 851 is normally rotated in thestate in which the protrusion is accommodated, the protrusion 840 movesforward to the tip side portion 811 of the movable gripper 810, therebyswitching the state of the object grasping mechanism 800 to the state inwhich the protrusion is in use. As shown in FIG. 10 , the objectgrasping mechanism 800 grasps the object MT, thereby allowing forwarping of the object MT upwardly and preventing the object MT fromdrooping.

In contrast, the rotary air cylinder 851 is reversely rotated in thestate in which the protrusion is in use, the protrusion 840 retractstoward the proximal side of the movable gripper 810, thereby switchingthe state of the object grasping mechanism 800 to the state in which theprotrusion is accommodated. In this state, the object grasping mechanism800 can grasp an object with the tip side portion 811 of the movablegripper 810 and the tip side portion 823 of the fixed gripper 820. Inother words, the object grasping mechanism 800 can also grasp the objectwithout making the object upwardly warped.

In the object grasping mechanism 800, such as described herein, theprotrusion 840 and the protrusion reciprocating mechanism 850 areprovided in the movable gripper 810, and the first recess 821 and thesecond recess 822 are formed in the fixed gripper 820; however, theprotrusion 840 and the protrusion reciprocating mechanism 850 may beprovided in the fixed gripper 820 and the first recess 821 and thesecond recess 822 may be formed in the movable gripper 810. Note that insuch a case, the object grasping mechanism 800 is turned upside down.

In the object grasping mechanism 800, such as described herein, thefixed grippers 820 are fixed and only the movable gripper 810 moves, butthe fixed gripper 820 may also be movable like the movable gripper 810.

The air cylinder mechanism is employed as the reciprocating mechanism830 in the object grasping mechanism 800, such as described herein;however, as the reciprocating mechanism 830, known reciprocatingmechanisms, such as a rack and pinion mechanism, a ball screw mechanism,an air cylinder mechanism, a motor cylinder mechanism, an electricslider mechanism, a belt slider mechanism and a linear slider mechanism,may be employed. In such a case, an electric motor may be employed as adrive source.

In the object grasping mechanism 800, such as described herein, thereciprocating mechanism 830 can move the movable gripper 810 closer tothe fixed gripper 820 in the state in which the protrusion is in useuntil the protrusion 840 of the movable gripper 810 enters the recess CVof the tip side portion 823 of the fixed gripper 820; however, in a casewhen it is known in advance that an object to be grasped by the objectgrasping mechanism 800 is relatively thick enough that the protrusion840 of the movable gripper 810 cannot enter the recess CV of the tipside portion 823 of the fixed gripper 820, the lower limit position forthe movement stroke of the movable gripper 810 with the reciprocatingmechanism 830 may be set at a position above the fixed gripper 820 (thatis, the lower limit position for the movement stroke of the movablegripper 810 may be set at a position where the protrusion 840 of themovable gripper 810 does not enter the recess CV of the tip side portion823 of the fixed gripper 820).

In the object grasping mechanism 800, such as described herein, therotary air cylinder 851 is employed as a drive source for moving theprotrusion 840 back and forth, but instead of the rotary air cylinder851, an electric motor capable of normal rotation and reverse rotationis employed.

In the object grasping mechanism 800, such as described herein, the linkmechanism is employed as the protrusion reciprocating mechanism 850, buta known mechanism as the protrusion reciprocating mechanism 850 may beemployed.

An object grasping mechanism according to another embodiment is the sameas the object grasping mechanism 800, such as described herein, exceptthat the protrusion portion reciprocating mechanism 850 does not existand the protrusion 840 is always fixed to the tip side portion 811 ofthe movable gripper 810.

In other embodiments, an object grasping mechanism 900 is the same asthe object grasping mechanism described above except for the shapes ofthe movable gripper and the fixed gripper. Thus, for the object graspingmechanism 900 as described herein, only a movable gripper 910 and afixed gripper 920 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the movable gripper 910 has a rectangular barshape. On the other hand, the fixed grippers 920 have a pair ofrectangular bar shapes parallel to each other. A slit PS is formedbetween the pair of fixed grippers 920. The width of the slit PS isdesigned to be slightly wider than the width of the movable gripper 910.The reciprocating mechanism 830 allows the movable gripper 910 to enterthe inside of the slit PS of the fixed gripper 920. Thus, like theobject grasping mechanism 800, such as described herein, the objectgrasping mechanism 900 as described herein makes an object MT upwardlywarped and prevents the object MT from drooping.

The movable gripper 910 and the fixed gripper 920 of the object graspingmechanism 900 as described herein do not necessarily have a rectangularbar shape, and may be a round bar shape or another bar shape.

An object grasping mechanism 1000 according to another embodiment is thesame as the object grasping mechanism as described above except for theshapes of the movable gripper and the fixed gripper. Thus, for theobject grasping mechanism 1000 as described herein, only a movablegripper 1010 and a fixed gripper 1020 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 12 , the movable gripper 1010 has a raised portion MC.On the other hand, the fixed gripper 1020 has a curved recess CC. Notethat the curved surface of the curved recess CC coincides with thecurved surface of the raised portion MC of the movable gripper 1010.Also, the width of the raised portion MC of the movable gripper 1010 isthe same as the width of the curved recess CC of the fixed gripper 1020.The reciprocating mechanism 830 allows the raised portion MC of themovable gripper 1010 to enter inside the curved recess CC of the fixedgripper 1020. Thus, like the object grasping mechanism 800, such asdescribed herein, the object grasping mechanism 1000 as described hereinmakes an object MT upwardly warped and prevents the object MT fromdrooping even when the object MT, such as a bundle of banknotes or thelike, is easy to droop.

The width of the raised portion MC of the movable gripper 1010 of theobject grasping mechanism 1000 as described herein may be narrower thanthe width of the curved recess CC of the fixed gripper 1020 and theraised portion MC of the movable gripper 1010 may be formed so as toprotrude further downward.

The foregoing embodiments depicted in FIGS. 7-12 and the variousalternatives thereof and variations thereto are presented, generally,for purposes of explanation, and to facilitate an understanding ofvarious configurations and constructions of a banknote handling system,such as described herein. However, it will be apparent to one skilled inthe art that some of the specific details presented herein may not berequired in order to practice a particular described embodiment, or anequivalent thereof.

Thus, it is understood that the foregoing and following descriptions ofspecific embodiments are presented for the limited purposes ofillustration and description. These descriptions are not targeted to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms recitedherein. To the contrary, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art that many modifications and variations are possible in view ofthe above teachings.

Generally and broadly, FIGS. 13-35 depict another example portion of abanknote handling system configured to grasp a banknote cashbox, unlockthe banknote cashbox, extract a stack of banknotes from the banknotecashbox and relock the banknote cashbox, such as described herein. Itmay be appreciated that the specific examples described below are notlimited to the precise forms described below. In other words, forsimplicity of description and illustration, the following specificexamples are provided. However, a person of skill in the art mayappreciate that modifications, substitutions, and adjustments may besuitable.

As shown in FIGS. 13-15 , a banknote handling system 2000 according toan example embodiment includes a controller 2100, a transporter 2200, afirst mechanical arm 2300, a second mechanical arm 2400, a banknotealigner 2500, a banknote sorter 2600, a third mechanical arm 2700, abanknote strapper 2800, and storage boxes 2900. In an exampleembodiment, the transporter 2200, the first mechanical arm 2300, thesecond mechanical arm 2400, the banknote aligner 2500, the banknotesorter 2600, the third mechanical arm 2700, the banknote strapper 2800,and the storage boxes 2900 are mounted on a base 2050, and thecontroller 2100 can be located under the base 2050.

The controller 2100 includes a memory 2120, which stores variousprograms and data, a communication interface 2160, which transmits andreceives data to and from the units included in the banknote handlingsystem 2000, or specifically the transporter 2200, the first mechanicalarm 2300, the second mechanical arm 2400, the banknote aligner 2500, thethird mechanical arm 2700, and the banknote strapper 2800, and a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 2110, which controls the controller 2100 and theunits in the banknote handling system 2000 through the communicationinterface 2160 in accordance with programs.

The units in the banknote handling system 2000 associated withtransporting, unlocking, and opening of the banknote storage container2010 and also removal of banknotes from the container, and so on, arecollectively referred to as a banknote storage container handling system2002 (or an unlocking system 2002).

The operation of the banknote handling system 2000 according to anexample embodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 13-16 .

The transporter 2200 transports the banknote storage container 2010(refer to FIG. 18 ) in response to a command from the controller 2100(step S102). The transporter 2200 transports the banknote storagecontainer 2010, which is brought into a secure room containing thebanknote handling system 2000, to near the first mechanical arm 2300. Inan example embodiment, the transporter 2200 includes a first conveyor2201, a second conveyor 2202, a reverser 2210, a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) antenna 2220, and a transfer unit 2230.

The controller 2100 determines one surface of the banknote storagecontainer 2010 having a keyhole 2012, or the surface having a lid 2011,based on data received from the RFID antenna 2220 (step S104). Asdescribed in detail later, the banknote storage container 2010 in anexample embodiment has an RFID tag attached to its one surface having nokeyhole 2012. When the RFID antenna 2220 detects an RFID tag, thecontroller 2100 determines, based on a signal from the RFID antenna2220, that the lid 2011 and the keyhole 2012 are on the surface oppositeto the RFID antenna 2220, and directly passes the banknote storagecontainer 2010 to the transfer unit 2230.

In an example embodiment, the transfer unit 2230, which includes slides2231 and 2232, transports the banknote storage container 2010 from thefirst conveyor 2201 to the second conveyor 2202.

When the RFID antenna 2220 detects no RFID tag, the controller 2100determines, based on a signal from the RFID antenna 2220, that thebanknote storage container 2010 has the lid 2011 and the keyhole 2012 onits surface facing the RFID antenna 2220. The controller 2100 uses thereverser 2210 to turn the banknote storage container 2010 to have thesurface with the lid 2011 and the keyhole 2012 facing the firstmechanical arm 2300 (step S106). The controller 2100 passes the turnedbanknote storage container 2010 to the second conveyor 2202.

The first mechanical arm 2300 includes a key 2310 for unlocking the lid2011 of the banknote storage container 2010. As described later, thefirst mechanical arm 2300 moves the key 2310 front and back, right andleft, and up and down or rotates the key 2310 in response to a commandfrom the controller 2100 and inserts the key 2310 into the keyhole 2012of the banknote storage container 2010. In response to a command fromthe controller 2100, the first mechanical arm 2300 rotates the key 2310to unlock the banknote storage container 2010, and then opens the lid2011. In detail, the controller 2100 uses data indicating the verticalposition of the keyhole 2012 obtained from a camera and data indicatingthe angle of rotation of the keyhole 2012 to correct the angle ofrotation of the key 2310 (by rotating the mechanical arm) before movingthe first mechanical arm 2300 to the keyhole 2012.

The second mechanical arm 2400 includes a gripper 2410 for pickingbanknotes. In response to a command from the controller 2100, the secondmechanical arm 2400 moves the gripper 2410 front and back, right andleft, and up and down and picks banknotes stored in the banknote storagecontainer 2010, removes the banknotes, or places the banknotes onto thebanknote aligner 2500.

The controller 2100 controls the first mechanical arm 2300 to lock thebanknote storage container 2010. The controller 2100 controls the secondconveyor 2202 of the transporter 2200 to transport the empty banknotestorage container 2010 out of the room.

As described in detail, the second mechanical arm 2400 has a camera 2420mounted near the gripper 2410 in an example embodiment. The controldescribed below is performed. The controller 2100 operates thetransporter 2200 to move the banknote storage container 2010 to aposition near and facing the first mechanical arm 2300. The controller2100 operates the camera 2420 on the second mechanical arm 2400 tocapture an image of the front face of the banknote storage container2010 (step S108). The controller 2100 determines the position of thekeyhole 2012 based on the image data (step S110).

The controller 2100 controls the first mechanical arm 2300 to move thekey 2310 to the keyhole 2012 and insert the key 2310 into the keyhole2012. The controller 2100 controls the first mechanical arm 2300 to turnthe key 2310 (step S112). The controller 2100 controls the firstmechanical arm 2300 to open the lid of the banknote storage container2010 (step S114). The controller 2100 controls the second mechanical arm2400 to move the gripper 2410 into the banknote storage container 2010.The controller 2100 controls the second mechanical arm 2400 to pick thebanknotes using the gripper 2410. The controller 2100 controls thesecond mechanical arm 2400 to pull and remove the banknotes (step S116).The controller 2100 controls the second mechanical arm 2400 to turn thegripper 2410 by 90° to allow the banknotes to stand upright on theiredges. The controller 2100 controls the second mechanical arm 2400 toplace the banknotes in the banknote aligner 2500.

In response to a command from the controller 2100, the banknote aligner2500 aligns the banknotes. More specifically, the banknote aligner 2500aligns the edges of a bundle of banknotes (step S118). Morespecifically, the banknote aligner 2500 in an example embodiment uses aplate to laterally support the standing banknotes placed by the secondmechanical arm 2400 to prevent the banknotes from falling. The banknotealigner 2500 then vibrates the banknotes using a vibrator (not shown) toalign the lower edges and the lateral edges of the standing banknotes.The banknote aligner 2500 in an example embodiment can also align theupper edges of the vibrating banknotes by pressing the banknotes with aplate above while the banknotes are being vibrated.

The controller 2100 controls the second mechanical arm 2400, which hasbeen in a standby state during the aligning process, to pick the alignedbanknotes again. The controller 2100 controls the second mechanical arm2400 to place the aligned banknotes in an entrance slot of the banknotesorter 2600. In an example embodiment, the controller 2100 controls thesecond mechanical arm 2400 to push the banknotes placed in the entranceslot inward with the tip of the gripper 2410. The banknote sorter 2600sorts the banknotes from the second mechanical arm 2400 by theirdenominations, and stores the banknotes separately for each denomination(step S120).

In an example embodiment, the banknote sorter 2600 may reject anunsorted banknote. When the banknote sorter 2600 rejects a banknote (Yesin step S122), the controller 2100 controls the third mechanical arm2700 to pick a rejected banknote using the gripper 2710. The controller2100 controls the second mechanical arm 2400 to receive the rejectedbanknote from the third mechanical arm 2700 using the gripper 2410. Thecontroller 2100 then places the banknote again in the entrance slot orhopper of the banknote sorter 2600 (step S120).

In an example embodiment, the banknote sorter 2600, when sorting thebanknotes, displays the counts of banknotes sorted and stored for eachdenomination. The banknote sorter 2600 stops sorting when the count ofbanknotes reaches a predetermined number for each denomination, forexample, 2100. In an example embodiment, the third mechanical arm 2700also has a camera. Using an image captured with the camera, thecontroller 2100 obtains the count of sorted banknotes for eachdenomination.

When the banknotes sorted for any denomination reach a predeterminedcount, the controller 2100 controls the third mechanical arm 2700 topick the banknotes and pass the banknotes to the banknote strapper 2800using the gripper 2710. The banknote aligner 2500 may preferably alignthe banknotes again before passing the banknotes to the banknotestrapper 2800.

The banknote strapper 2800 straps a bundle of a predetermined number ofbanknotes (step S124). The controller 2100 controls the third mechanicalarm 2700 to pick the strapped bundle of banknotes and place thebanknotes in one of the storage boxes 2900. In an example embodiment,each storage box 2900 receives banknotes of its correspondingdenomination. The controller 2100 controls the third mechanical arm 2700to place banknotes of the same denomination tied with a strap into thecorresponding storage box 2900 intended for the denomination (stepS126).

As described above, the banknote handling system 2000 according to anexample embodiment automatically sorts banknotes stored in the lockedbanknote storage container 2010 by their denominations into eachstrapped bundle of a predetermined number of banknotes of the samedenomination. The banknote handling system 2000 thus allows safer andmore convenient handling of banknotes.

In the above embodiment, the third mechanical arm 2700 has the camera,and the controller 2100 determines whether the count of banknotes ofeach denomination reaches a predetermined number using an image capturedwith the camera. However, the banknote sorter 2600 may transmit dataindicating the count of banknotes sorted for each denomination or anotification that the banknote count reaches a predetermined number tothe controller 2100. In this case, the third mechanical arm 2700 mayhave no camera.

The configuration of a banknote storage container handling system 2002according to an example embodiment will now be described. Thetransporter 2200 will now be described. Referring to FIG. 18 , thetransporter 2200 includes a conveyor 2201 on the entrance or hopper ofthe banknote storage container 2010, a conveyor 2202 on the exit of thebanknote storage container 2010, a reverser 2210, a proximity sensor2221, and an RFID antenna 2220.

In response to a command from the controller 2100, the conveyors 2201and 2202 transport the banknote storage container 2010.

In response to a command from the controller 2100, the reverser 2210reverses the banknote storage container 2010 horizontally by 180°. Inmore detail, as shown in FIG. 19 , the reverser 2210 includes aturntable 2211, onto which the banknote storage container 2010 isplaced, a guide 2212, which stops the banknote storage container 2010 ata predetermined position on the conveyor 2201, a lifting cylinder 2213,which lifts the turntable 2211, a turning cylinder 2214, which turns theturntable 2211, and a guide cylinder 2215.

In the embodiment, a photoelectric sensor is used to detect the positionof the banknote storage container 2010 on the conveyor 2201 or 2202.

In an example embodiment, as shown in FIG. 20 , the controller 2100controls the conveyor 2201 to transport the banknote storage container2010 when the conveyor 2201 receives the banknote storage container2010. As shown in FIG. 21 , the banknote storage container 2010 stopswhen touching the guide 2212 of the reverser 2210. In an exampleembodiment, the proximity sensor 2221 detects the banknote storagecontainer 2010, and transmits the detection result to the controller2100. The controller 2100 switches on the RFID antenna 2220, which thensearches for an RFID tag on the banknote storage container 2010.

In an example embodiment, the banknote storage container 2010 has anRFID tag 2015 attached on its surface opposite to the lid 2011 (refer toFIG. 24 ). When the RFID antenna 2220 detects the RFID tag 2015, thecontroller 2100 controls the conveyor 2201 to transport and pass thebanknote storage container 2010 directly to the conveyor 2202 on theexit.

When the RFID antenna 2220 detects no RFID tag 2015, the controller 2100turns the turntable 2211 by 180°, and controls the conveyor 2201 totransport and pass the banknote storage container 2010 to the conveyor2202 on the exit.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 22 , the banknote storage container2010 stops while touching the guide 2212 of the reverser 2210. In thisstate, as shown in FIG. 23 , the controller 2100 drives the liftingcylinder 2213 to lift the turntable 2211 and the banknote storagecontainer 2010 when the controller 2100 receives a detection resultindicating that no RFID tag 2015 has been detected. As shown in FIG. 24, the controller 2100 drives the turning cylinder 2214 to rotate theturntable 2211 and the banknote storage container 2010 by 180°. Afterturning the table, the controller 2100 lowers the lifting cylinder 2213,and thus lowers the turntable 2211 and the banknote storage container2010 to the level of the conveyor 2201 as shown in FIG. 22 .

The controller 2100 then controls the conveyors 2201 and 2202 totransport the banknote storage container 2010 to face the firstmechanical arm 2300 or the second mechanical arm 2400.

The structure of the first mechanical arm 2300 will now be described. Asshown in FIGS. 25 and 26 , the first mechanical arm 2300 includes thekey 2310, and an mechanical arm body 2302 for controlling the position,angle, or posture of the key 2310. In response to a command from thecontroller 2100, the first mechanical arm 2300 drives a motor and anactuator contained in the mechanical arm body 2302 to turn or move thekey 2310 for the banknote storage container 2010 along six axes.

The structure of the second mechanical arm 2400 will now be described.As shown in FIGS. 27 to 28 , the second mechanical arm 2400 includes thegripper 2410, the camera 2420, and an mechanical arm body 2402 forcontrolling the position, angle, or posture of the gripper 2410. Inresponse to a command from the controller 2100, the second mechanicalarm 2400 drives a motor and an actuator contained in the mechanical armbody 2402 to turn or move the gripper 2410 for picking the banknotes andthe camera 2420 for imaging the keyhole 2012 along six axes.

Referring now to FIG. 30 , the control over the first mechanical arm2300 and the second mechanical arm 2400 performed by the controller 2100will be described. In an example embodiment, the conveyor 2202 on theexit transports the banknote storage container 2010 to face the firstmechanical arm 2300 or the second mechanical arm 2400. The controller2100 then performs the processing described below.

The CPU 2110 in the controller 2100 first controls the second mechanicalarm 2400 through the communication interface 2160 to move the camera2420 to a position near and facing the banknote storage container 2010as shown in FIG. 31 . The camera 2420 captures an image of the front ofthe banknote storage container 2010 (step S202).

The CPU 2110 in the controller 2100 reads a reference image for thekeyhole 2012 from the memory 2120 (step S204). The CPU 2110 matches theimage obtained from the camera 2420 with the reference image for thekeyhole 2012, and determines the position of the keyhole 2012 (stepS206). The CPU 2110 calculates the position of the keyhole 2012 relativeto the current position of the key 2310 based on the matching result(step S208). The CPU 2110 controls the first mechanical arm 2300 throughthe communication interface 2160 to move the key 2310 to face thekeyhole 2012 as shown in FIG. 32 (step S210).

The CPU 2110 controls the first mechanical arm 2300 through thecommunication interface 2160 to insert the key 2310 into the keyhole2012 (step S212), and to turn the key 2310 in an unlocking direction(step S214) as shown in FIG. 33 . The CPU 2110 controls the firstmechanical arm 2300 through the communication interface 2160 to open thelid 2011 of the banknote storage container 2010 with the key 2310 (stepS216) as shown in FIG. 17 . In this manner, the lid 2011 of the banknotestorage container 2010 is automatically open.

The CPU 2110 controls the second mechanical arm 2400 through thecommunication interface 2160 to place the gripper 2410 into the banknotestorage container 2010 and to remove the banknotes (step S218) as shownin FIG. 34 . The second mechanical arm 2400 then passes the banknotes tothe banknote aligner 2500.

The CPU 2110 controls the first mechanical arm 2300 through thecommunication interface 2160 to close the lid 2011 of the banknotestorage container 2010 with the key 2310 (step S220). The CPU 2110controls the first mechanical arm 2300 through the communicationinterface 2160 to turn the key 2310 in a locking direction (step S222)and withdraw the key 2310 from the keyhole 2012 of the banknote storagecontainer 2010 (step S224).

The controller 2100 controls the conveyor 2202 on the exit to move thelocked empty banknote storage container 2010 out of the banknotehandling system 2000.

In this manner, the banknote storage container handling system 2002according to an example embodiment automatically unlocks the banknotestorage container 2010, opens the lid 2011 of the banknote storagecontainer 2010, removes the banknotes stored in the banknote storagecontainer 2010, closes the lid 2011 of the banknote storage container2010, and locks the banknote storage container 2010.

In the above embodiment, the first mechanical arm 2300 includes thesingle key 2310. The banknote handling system 2000 and the banknotestorage container handling system 2002 may include multiple differentkeys.

For example, the memory 2120 in the controller 2100 stores images ofmultiple different keyholes corresponding to the multiple differentkeys. In step S206 in FIG. 30 , the CPU 2110 compares the captured imageof the keyhole with the multiple images of the keyholes stored in thememory 2120, and determines the type of the keyhole, the type of thekey, and the position of the keyhole. The first mechanical arm 2300 mayincorporate multiple selectable keys, or may have multiple keys placednear the first mechanical arm 2300. In step S210 in FIG. 30 , the CPU2110 controls the first mechanical arm 2300 through the communicationinterface 2160 to replace the key with a specified key 2310. The CPU2110 controls the first mechanical arm 2300 through the communicationinterface 2160 to move the specified key 2310 to face the keyhole 2012as shown in FIG. 32 .

In the above embodiment, the RFID tag 2015 is attached to the surface ofthe banknote storage container 2010 opposite to the lid 2011. The RFIDtag 2015 may be attached to the surface of the banknote storagecontainer 2010 including the lid 2011, and the RFID antenna 2220 may beplaced near the first mechanical arm 2300.

In some embodiments, the RFID tag 2015 may be attached to the surface ofthe banknote storage container 2010 opposite to the lid 2011, and theRFID antenna 2220 may be placed near the first mechanical arm 2300. Inthis case, the controller 2100 turns the banknote storage container2010, and then transports the container 2010 to the conveyor 2202 on theexit when the RFID tag 2015 is detected. When no RFID tag 2015 isdetected, the controller 2100 directly transports the banknote storagecontainer 2010 to the conveyor 2202 on the exit without turning thecontainer 2010.

The RFID tag 2015 may be attached to the surface of the banknote storagecontainer 2010 having the lid 2011, and the RFID antenna 2220 may beplaced opposite to the first mechanical arm 2300. In this case, thecontroller 2100 turns the banknote storage container 2010, and thentransports the container 2010 to the conveyor 2202 on the exit when theRFID tag 2015 is detected. When no RFID tag 2015 is detected, thecontroller 2100 directly transports the banknote storage container 2010to the conveyor 2202 on the exit without turning the container 2010.

In some embodiments, the RFID tag 2015 may be attached to each of thesurface of the banknote storage container 2010 having the lid 2011 andits opposite surface. Each RFID tag 2015 may store information fordetermining the surface with the lid 2011 and the keyhole 2012.

In some embodiments, the RFID tag 2015 may not be used. The banknotestorage container 2010 may have, on its upper or side surface, a barcode or a specific image for determining the surface having the lid 2011and the keyhole 2012. The RFID antenna 2220 may be replaced by anoptical sensor or a camera to determine the surface having the lid 2011and the keyhole 2012.

In some embodiments, the RFID tag 2015 may not be used. The banknotestorage container 2010 may have, on its upper or side surface, anirregularity shape to identify the surface having the lid 2011 and thekeyhole 2012. A contact sensor, a proximity sensor, or an image sensormay be used to detect the shape to determine the surface having the lid2011 and the keyhole 2012.

In the above embodiment, the banknote storage container 2010 includesthe keyhole 2012 in the lid 2011. However, the banknote storagecontainer 2010 may not have the keyhole 2012 in the lid 2011, but mayhave the keyhole 2012 in any other place.

In the above embodiment, the banknote storage container 2010 is turnedby the reverser 2210 to have the lid 2011 facing the first mechanicalarm 2300. However, the controller 2100 may control the first mechanicalarm 2300 to move the key 2310 to the surface of the banknote storagecontainer 2010 having the keyhole 2012 in correspondence with theposition of the surface having the keyhole 2012. More specifically, thefirst mechanical arm 2300 may move the key 2310 to the keyhole 2012beyond the banknote storage container 2010 or the transporter 2200.

In some embodiments, the first arms 2300 may be located across thetransporter 2200. The first mechanical arm 2300 facing the surfacehaving the keyhole 2012 may lock or unlock the banknote storagecontainer 2010.

An example structure of a banknote aligner is described below. Forconvenient reference, the embodiments that follow reference a banknotealigner 3500, but it may be appreciated that a banknote aligner, such asdescribed herein, can be suitably configured as described above or inreference to any other embodiment referenced herein, such as thebanknote aligner 2500 referenced above.

The banknote aligner 3500 described below has its front on the rightside in FIG. 35 and on the left side in FIG. 37 , its rear on the leftside in FIG. 35 and on the right side in FIG. 37 , its upper side on theupper side in FIG. 35 , its lower side on the lower side in FIG. 35 ,its left on the upper side in FIG. 37 , and its right on the lower sidein FIG. 37 .

Referring to FIGS. 35 to 42 , the banknote aligner 3500 mainly includesa vibration unit 3510 and a push unit 3550 on a base 3501.

The vibration unit 3510 includes a mount plate 3511, on which thebanknotes 3000 removed from the banknote storage container 10 stand ontheir edges, and a support 3512, which supports the right face of thestanding banknotes 3000, and a rear plate 3521, which holds the rearedges of the banknotes 3000. More specifically, the support 3512 extendsvertically on the mount plate 3511. On the right side of the support3512, a right wall 3516 extends vertically on a vibration table 3514.

The rear plate 3521 has a vibrator 3520 on its rear. The mount plate3511, the support 3512, and the rear plate 3521 are mounted on the base3501 with, for example, an elastic member in a manner vibratable by thevibrator 3520. The vibrator 3520 has a vibration frequency of 25 to 36Hz and a vibratory force of 13 to 40 N.

A slide plate 3531 is arranged on the left side of the banknotes 3000that are held upright by the second arm 2400 or the third arm 2700. Theslide plate 3531 supports the left face of the banknotes 3000 andprevents the banknotes 3000 from falling. The slide plate 3531 ismovable by a support cylinder 3530 in the left-right direction of thebanknote aligner 3500.

After the banknotes 3000 are placed on the mount plate 3511 with thesecond arm 2400 or the third arm 2700, the controller 2100 drives thesupport cylinder 3530 to move the slide plate 3531 to the right untilthe slide plate 3531 can support the banknotes 3000 and prevent themfrom falling. In some embodiments, a U-shaped left wall 3536 extendsvertically on the left side of the banknotes 3000 or the slide plate3531. The left wall 3536 has a recess, through which the supportcylinder 3530 for the slide plate 3531 passes.

In some embodiments, the push unit 3550 includes a cover 3551, which issized to cover the front, top, and rear of the vibration unit 3510,rails 3552 and 3553, which support the cover 3551 in a slidable manner,and a cover cylinder 3555, which generates a drive force for moving thecover 3551 in the left-right direction.

The push unit 3550 includes a banknote top push plate 3567, which ismounted on a top portion of the cover 3551, a vertical cylinder 3566,which moves the banknote top push plate 3567 in the vertical direction,or specifically pushes the top edges of any banknotes 3000 deviatingupward from other banknotes 3000 in the same bundle downward using thebanknote top push plate 3567, a banknote front push plate 3562, which ismounted on a front portion of the cover 3551, and a horizontal cylinder3561, which moves the banknote front push plate 3562 in the front-reardirection, or specifically pushes the front edges of any banknotes 3000deviating frontward from other banknotes 3000 in the same bundlerearward using the banknote front push plate 3562.

In some embodiments, multiple banknote edge detection sensors 3525 arearranged above the right support 3512 and the slide plate 3531. In someembodiments, the banknote edge detection sensors 3525 are mounted on theright wall 3516 and the left wall 3536. Besides those for the top edgesof the banknotes, banknote edge detection sensors 3525 are also arrangedfor detecting the lateral edges of the banknotes. The banknote edgedetection sensors 3525, which are optical sensors for red visible light,detect any banknote 1000 greatly deviating upward or frontward fromother banknotes 3000 in the same bundle. The banknote edge detectionsensors 3525 may be optical sensors for light of another color, or maybe infrared sensors.

A method for controlling the banknote aligner 3500 is described withreference to FIG. 43 . In some embodiments, the banknotes 3000 areplaced on the mount plate 3511 with the second arm 2400 or the third arm2700. This causes the controller 2100 to perform the processingdescribed below.

As shown in FIG. 44 , the controller 2100 first drives the supportcylinder 3530 to move the slide plate 3531 to the right whilemaintaining the banknotes 3000 held by the second arm 2400 or the thirdarm 2700 standing on their edges on the mount plate 3511. The slideplate 3531 is moved until the slide plate 3531 can support the left faceof the banknotes 3000 and prevent them from falling (step S3512). Thecontroller 2100 drives the vibrator 3520 for several seconds to vibratethe rear plate 3521 and the mount plate 3511 on which the banknotes 3000are placed. This aligns the lower edges and the rear edges of thebanknotes 3000 (step S3514).

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 45 , a stainless steel spring 3515extends between the front end of the mount plate 3511 and the vibrationtable 3514. Similarly, a stainless steel spring 3515 extends between therear end of the mount plate 3511 and the vibration table 3514. Morespecifically, the stainless steel springs 3515 viewed from above areparallel to the direction in which the vibrator 3520 vibrates.

In another non-limiting phrasing, the stainless steel springs 3515 areparallel to the longitudinal direction of the placed banknotes 3000. Inthe left side view, the stainless steel springs 3515 each extend fromthe upper front toward the lower rear, or in other words upward to theright. This structure can move the banknotes 3000 in the arrow directionin FIG. 45 as the vibrator 3520 vibrates. In this manner, the banknotes3000 are shaken against the mount plate 3511 and the rear plate 3521 tohave their lower and rear edges aligned.

The vibration table 3514 may be or include an elastic member, the mountplate 3511 or the support 3512 may be an elastic member, or an elasticmember may be used between the vibration table 3514 and the mount plate3511, or between the vibration table 3514 and the support 3512.

The controller 2100, such as described in reference to other embodimentsdescribed herein, determines whether any banknotes 3000 greatly deviatefrom other banknotes 3000 in the same bundle based on signals from thebanknote edge detection sensors 3525 (step S3516). When the banknotes3000 deviate greatly (Yes in step S3516), the controller 2100 repeatsthe processing from step S3514.

When the banknotes 3000 deviate only slightly (No in step S3516), thecontroller 2100 drives the cover cylinder 3555 to move the banknote toppush plate 3567 to above the banknotes 3000 and move the banknote frontpush plate 3562 to the front of the banknote 1000 (step S3518). Thecontroller 2100 then drives the vertical cylinder 3566 to lower thebanknote top push plate 3567. The push plate 3567 pushes any banknotes3000 deviating upward from other banknotes 3000 in the bundle downward.

The controller 2100 also drives the horizontal cylinder 3561 to move thebanknote front push plate 3562 rearward. The push plate 3562 pushes anybanknotes 3000 deviating frontward from other banknotes 3000 in thebundle rearward (step S3520).

The controller 2100 drives the cover cylinder 3555 to move the banknotetop push plate 3567, the banknote front push plate 3562, and the cover3551 to the left (step S3522). The controller 2100 controls the secondarm 2400 or the third arm 2700 to remove the banknotes 3000 from themount plate 3511 (step S3524) and pass them to the banknote sorter 2600or the banknote strapper 2800.

The above embodiment may be modified. The function of each of the unitsin the above embodiment may be achieved by another unit. The function ofa single unit may be achieved by a plurality of units, or the functionsof a plurality of units may be achieved by a single unit. As shown inFIG. 49 , for example, a controller in the first arm 2300 or in thesecond arm 2400 may function as the controller 2100. A CPU or a memoryin the camera 2420 or the controller in the first arm 2300 or anotherunit may perform the processing of the controller 2100.

A banknote aligner 3500 according to the above embodiment includes aplate 3511 on which banknotes 3000 are placeable, a vibrator 3520 thatvibrates the plate 3511, and a controller 2100 that controls thevibrator 3520.

In many examples, the banknote aligner 3500 further includes pushers3562 and 3567 that push the banknotes 3000 from front and/or from above.The controller 2100 vibrates the vibrator 3520, and then controls thepushers 3562 and 3567 to push the banknotes 3000 from front and/or fromabove.

In many examples, the banknote aligner 3500 further includes a detector3525 that detects whether the banknotes 3000 deviate frontward and/orupward. The controller 2100 vibrates the vibrator 3520, and thencontrols a pusher 3527 to push the banknotes from above based on adetection result from the detector 3525 indicating that the banknotes3000 deviate upward slightly.

In many examples, the banknote aligner 3500 further includes a support3531 that laterally supports the banknotes 3000. The controller 2100controls the support 3531 to laterally support the banknotes 3000 placedon the plate 3511.

In many examples, the banknote aligner 3500 further includes one or moresprings 3515 that support the plate 3511, and a member 3521 that comesin contact with edges of the banknotes 3000 in a longitudinal direction.The one or more springs 3515 extend obliquely in the longitudinaldirection of the banknotes 3000.

In many examples, the vibrator 3520 has a vibration frequency of 25 to36 Hz and a vibratory force of 13 to 40 N.

It may be appreciated that the above embodiments may be modified. Thefunction of each of the units in the above embodiment may be achieved byanother unit. The function of a single unit may be achieved by aplurality of units, or the functions of a plurality of units may beachieved by a single unit. As shown in FIG. 49 , for example, acontroller in the first mechanical arm 2300 or in the second mechanicalarm 2400 may function as the controller 2100. A CPU or a memory in thecamera 2420 may perform the processing in step S204 or step S206 in FIG.30 . The controller in the first mechanical arm 2300 may perform theprocessing in step S208 or step S210 in FIG. 30 .

In the above embodiment, the camera 2420 is mounted on the secondmechanical arm 2400. However, the camera 2420 may be mounted on a thirdmechanical arm, which is separate from the gripper 2410.

In some embodiments, the camera 2420 may be mounted on the same firstmechanical arm 2300 as the key 2310.

In some embodiments, the camera 2420 may be immovable. In other words,the camera 2420 may be fixed to a support placed on the base 2050.

The foregoing embodiments depicted in the figures referenced above andthe various alternatives thereof and variations thereto are presented,generally, for purposes of explanation, and to facilitate anunderstanding of various configurations and constructions of a networkarchitecture that facilitates communication by and between variouscomponents of a banknote handling system, such as described herein.However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that some of thespecific details presented herein may not be required in order topractice a particular described embodiment, or an equivalent thereof.

Thus, it is understood that the foregoing descriptions of specificembodiments are presented for the limited purposes of illustration anddescription. These descriptions are not targeted to be exhaustive or tolimit the disclosure to the precise forms recited herein. To thecontrary, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art thatmany modifications and variations are possible in view of the aboveteachings.

One may appreciate that although many embodiments are disclosed above,that the operations and steps presented with respect to methods andtechniques described herein are meant as exemplary and accordingly arenot exhaustive. One may further appreciate that alternate step order orfewer or additional operations may be required or desired for particularembodiments.

Although the disclosure above is described in terms of various exemplaryembodiments and implementations, it should be understood that thevarious features, aspects and functionality described in one or more ofthe individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to theparticular embodiment with which they are described, but instead can beapplied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the someembodiments of the invention, whether or not such embodiments aredescribed and whether or not such features are presented as being a partof a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scope of the presentinvention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplaryembodiments but is instead defined by the claims herein presented.

In addition, it is understood that organizations and/or entitiesresponsible for the access, aggregation, validation, analysis,disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use of private data such asdescribed herein—including private financial data—will preferably complywith published and industry-established privacy, data, and networksecurity policies and practices. For example, it is understood that dataand/or information obtained from remote or local data sources—only oninformed consent of the subject of that data and/or information—shouldbe accessed and/or aggregated only for legitimate, agreed-upon, andreasonable uses.

What is claimed is:
 1. A document handling and transportation system foruse in a casino counting room environment, comprising: a key; and amechanical arm coupled to the key that is operable to: move the key toengage a keyhole in a lid of a cash box located, the mechanical armmoving the key at least partially based on an image captured by at leastone image sensor; move the key to unlock the lid of the cash box;manipulate the key to open the lid of the cash box by pulling the keyalong a first path and pushing the key along a second path that is areverse of the first path, thereby enabling removal of a set ofdocuments in the cash box.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein, after theset of documents is removed from the cash box, the mechanical arm isfurther operable to: manipulate the key to close the lid the cash box;move the key to lock the lid of the cash box; and disengage the key fromthe keyhole in the lid of the cash box.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the mechanical arm is operable to move the key with six degreesof freedom.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the mechanical arm isoperable to control at least one of: a position of the key; an angle ofthe key; or a posture of the key.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein theimage sensor is coupled to the mechanical arm.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the mechanical arm adjusts an angle of rotation of the key usingthe image captured by the image sensor prior to engaging the keyhole inthe lid of the cash box.
 7. A document handling and transportationsystem for use in a casino counting room environment, comprising:multiple keys; and a mechanical arm that is operable to: select a key,from the multiple keys, corresponding to a keyhole in a lid of a cashbox, the selection of the key based at least partially on an image ofthe cash box captured by at least one image sensor; use the key tounlock the lid of the cash box; and move the key to open the lid of thecash box to enable access for removal of a set of documents in the cashbox.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein, after the set of documents isremoved from the cash box, the mechanical arm is further operable to:move the key to close the lid of the cash box; and use the key to lockthe lid of the cash box.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein themechanical arm is operable to move the key along multiple axes.
 10. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the key corresponds to a stored keyhole imagethat is identified to correspond to the keyhole in the lid of the cashbox using the image of the cash box captured by the image sensor. 11.The system of claim 7, wherein the mechanical arm comprises at least onemotor and at least one actuator.
 12. The system of claim 7, wherein themultiple keys are coupled to the mechanical arm.